More in Bend warned to be ready to evacuate

The Deschutes County Sheriff’s Office tonight was warning people living in parts of west Bend to be ready for possible evacuation due to the ongoing Two Bulls Fire.

People living west of Mt. Washington Drive and between Shevlin Park Road and the Cascade Lakes Highway should be prepared to evacuate at a moment’s notice, according to the Sheriff’s Office. Northwest Crossing residents east of Mt. Washington Drive and people living north of Shevlin Park should also be ready to evacuate.

Earlier today the Sheriff’s Office ordered the evacuation of all homes in the Saddleback neighborhood and along Skyliners Road west of Bend. About 150 homes in the Saddleback neighborhood and 40 homes in Skyliners were given evacuation notices, according to the Deschutes County Sheriff’s Office.

The Two Bulls Fire, burning near Tumalo Reservoir, had burned 300 acres by nightfall, according to the Central Oregon Interagency Dispatch. The fire is actually two fires that burned toward each other and are being treated as one. It sent up a tall plume of smoke during the day, visible across Central Oregon as it drifted south.

The Saddleback subdivision is west of Bend off of Johnson Market Road.

The American Red Cross had set up a shelter area at Cascade Middle School in Bend, but Sheriff’s Capt. Shane Nelson said the Red Cross moved it tonight to High Desert Middle School because of the evacuation warnings for west Bend.

The Deschutes County Fairgrounds has been designated as a livestock shelter, according to Deschutes County.

The fire is burning in a mix of Deschutes National Forest and private lands protected by the Oregon Department of Forestry, the center said. Firefighters will work through the night to establish containment.

The fire was reported at 12:48 p.m. from the Black Butte lookout.

Kassidy Kern at the dispatch center said earlier in the day two air tankers dropped retardant on the fire. On the ground, hotshot crews from Redmond and Prineville, and engines from city, county, state and federal agencies, fought the blaze. Forest Service roads 4601 and 4606 have been closed as a result of the fire.